Friday, December 31, 2010

2010: the end/best

I tried to compose a concise and definitive tops list for 2010 and I just can't. I am sure as soon as I post this, I will think of a million things I forgot, but oh well...

* Electronic music.From the grave wave of Cold Cave to the neo-rave of Steve Aoki I was feeling this new generation of electronic music. I got to see Cold Cave, Crystal Castles, and Bloody Beetroots perform live and took in DJ sets by Dada Life and Aoki. I have written about these sub-genres before and how they fit into an internet-savvy generation with no underground scenes. Live performances are experimenting with what works still but these sounds are the most interesting music I have been hearing.The Bloody Beetroots. Major Lazer. Cold Cave. Steve Aoki. Crystal Castles. Daft Punk. La Roux. A-Trak. Death To The Throne.

* Kanye West.This was Ye's year. From his debut of "Power" to his mindblowing performance on SNL to his GOOD Friday project to the insane trainwreck of "Runaway" to the final release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Kanye West has embraced this new era of music by putting out so many free tracks and using the ability to quickly release music to re-release constantly evolving tracks. He may not know how to edit but he has no competition.

* Comic books:Ultimate Thor, Avengers: Children's Crusade, and New Ultimates. Two of my tops are from Marvel's Ultimates line. A line I swore to never read for their catering to Marvel's films. However, let's face it, fresh takes on familiar characters w/o any slopping retconning is fun. Ultimate Thor is like the regular Marvel God of Thunder re-imagined by people who actually know about Norse mythology. Avengers: Children's Crusade is just an exciting story that should have a big payoff. It is important for me to note that no X-title is included in my faves. Marvel has so ruined the X-titles and characters with convoluted stories trying to be the next big thing that they are pretty unreadable.

* DrakeIt pains me to admit that this former TV star and kinda cheezy dude is the best out there, but he is. It doesn't hurt that he is so damn prominent. I would go as far as to say that Drake is up there with the likes of Lord Finesse and Ludacris. If he dropped the singing, he would gain more points. Maybe, just maybe, the best verse of the year: "Aston Marten/Paris Morton Music"

* Hardcore/punk:I grow less and less interested in or inspired by this aging genre. I know that new fresh stuff exists but it isn't catching my attention. The Off! ep was good and End Of A Year might have been my favorite punk (post-punk?) band to release anything in 2010.OFF! by OFF

* AnarchyFrom Greece to Oakland. From London to Wikileaks. Anarchy has continued to not only garner the attention of media and states but has continued to grow into a strong global current. Leaderless student rebellion has almost become the global norm (Especially in Europe and North America). While Julian Assange has declared he is not an anarchist, his analysis of conspiracies is solidly anti-authoritarian. Wikileaks whittled away at state power effectiveness while spawning anonymous/Anonymous acts of "war" against state/corporate power.